782.13/3–1551

Memorandum by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Berry) to the Secretary of State 1

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Subject: New Turkish Cabinet

The following analysis of the recent Turkish Cabinet change is furnished for your information:

The outgoing Cabinet had been formed hastily when the Democrat Party won its unexpected victory in May 1950 and was therefore somewhat of a patchwork of personalities. Its resignation on March 8, “to make possible the organization of a new Cabinet in keeping with present conditions ... at the beginning of a new era”, followed soon after the approval by the National Assembly of the Government budget for the fiscal year beginning March 1, 1951.

The new Cabinet, formed on March 9 by Mr. Menderes, who was also Prime Minister in the former Cabinet, is not conspicuously [Page 1132] stronger than its predecessor and thus has produced general disappointment in Turkey. Only three new members entered the Government, the remaining fourteen posts being held by members of the previous Cabinet. The most significant change was the elimination of Mr. Karaosmanoglu, former Minister of State for Marshall Plan Affairs. While his relations with the ECA Mission had been cordial and constructive, there has been some suggestion that the Prime Minister was dissatisfied with his inability to obtain additional ECA aid for Turkey. His dismissal from the Cabinet is, however, probably more closely related to the rivalry between the two men, and leaves Mr. Menderes as the “strong man” of the present Government.

No change in foreign policy is expected as a result of the recent Cabinet reshuffle in Turkey, and no significant change in domestic policy is foreseen.2

  1. Drafted by Moore and Snyder, GTI.
  2. The Department was receiving telegraphic reports from Ankara regarding the cabinet change, and those cables may be found in file numbers 782.00 and 782.13.